JAY, Okla. — A Tulsa man has waived his preliminary hearing on two manslaughter charges in connection with a boating accident that killed two people on Grand Lake.
Court records show 22-year-old John Deselms waived his right for a preliminary hearing last week and entered an innocent plea on the charges. Deselms is charged with manslaughter in the May 14 deaths of Rachel Nichole Swetnam of Grove and William "Trey" Varner III of Texarkana.
Swetnam, Varner and Deselms were all students at the University of Arkansas.
Prosecutors allege that Deselms was operating a boat under the influence of alcohol when it crashed into a houseboat parked on Oklahoma's Grand Lake.
A judge in Delaware County scheduled July 28 court appearance for Deselms.